A NURSERY which was shut down due to serious concerns has been reopened by the education watchdog.

Greyfriars Day Nursery on Friar Street welcomed new parents and children for the first time on Monday after a temporary suspension was lifted by Ofsted.

Bubbles@St Paul’s and Bubbles@Caversham are both run by Greyfriars Ministries Ltd and were also closed following complaints to the regulator.

Ofsted closed Greyfriars Day Nursery in November, leaving dozens of children in need of an alternative placement.

A spokesman for Greyfriars Ministries said: "We are deeply sorry for the disruption and inconvenience that the closure of Greyfriars Nursery has caused to children, parents and carers over the past few weeks.

"We are confident that out of this difficult time we have made the improvements that will allow us to set an example for upholding the highest safeguarding standards going forward.

Reading Chronicle:

"As part of this process, we have employed additional members of the management team at Greyfriars, who worked with Ofsted to strengthen our current processes and training.

"Ofsted carried out a final inspection to ensure we have met their requirements before the reopening and recognised the numerous steps we have taken to meet their requirements and make any necessary improvements.

"We have also appointed a new board member who has more than 35 years of experience working within the NHS.

"She will be monitoring and advising on safeguarding issues on a regular basis. We are confident she will be a considerable asset in ensuring the welfare of the children we care for, which is our absolute priority."

Ofsted decided to lift the suspension after recognising the efforts of Greyfriars Ministries and Reading Borough Council to address concerns over safeguarding.

An open day was held for parents on January 10 and roughly 70 children have since applied to attend the nursery, which was rated 'Outstanding' in the last Ofsted inspection in 2013.

Meanwhile, Bubbles@St Paul’s will not be reopened due to 'resourcing issues'.

Greyfriars Ministries confirmed the Caversham branch will suffer the same fate.